More Slamming of US Foriegn Policy As Reality Sinks In

The three declassified pages from what is certainly a voluminous report told us what any American with a newspaper, television or internet connection should already know. The invasion of Iraq was a cataclysmic disaster. The current situation will get worse if American forces leave. Unfortunately, neither the report nor the president provide even a glimmer of a suggestion about how to avoid that inevitable disaster.


As a defence of his policies, it [the extract] serves only to highlight the maddening circular logic that passes for a White House rationale. It goes like this: The invasion of Iraq has created an entire new army of terrorists who will be emboldened by an American withdrawal. Therefore, the United States has to stay indefinitely and keep fighting those terrorists.


By that logic, the more the United States fights, the longer the war stretches on.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5386136.stm

Mona Lisa Had Recently Given Birth

Mona Lisa had recently given birth to a baby, a team of Canadian and French scientists announced Tuesday, so her mysterious smile may have expressed the weary joy of a mother with a newborn.

Using infrared technology that allowed them to see beneath a layer of varnish, the researchers found that Leonardo da Vinci's model had a gauzy layer over her dress they say was typically worn by pregnant women of the time, or mothers who had recently given birth. The filmy robe was called a guarnello.

Mona Lisa was Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a Florentine cloth merchant. Records suggest she wasn't pregnant when she posed for Leonardo, but that the painting was commissioned to celebrate the birth of her third child, says Bruno Mottin, curator in the research department of the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060927.wmonalisa27/BNStory/Science/home

Ducati Monster 695

I think this might be my next bike -- the Ducati Monster 695. Killer looking bike, a good all-round performer.
http://www.ducati.com/bikes/my2006/ducatiModel.jhtml?family=monster&modelName=M695-06

Iraq War Has Increased Terrorism

One would think that the American and British government wanted to promote terrorism, not get rid of it. Looks like their two country crusade against Iraq has done the exact opposite of it's supposed intent -- it's increased terrorism worldwide.
http://www.ecanadanow.com/world/2006/09/24/spy-agencies-say-iraq-war-has-increased-terrorism/

Relativity Drive

The device that has sparked their interest is an engine that generates thrust purely from electromagnetic radiation - microwaves to be precise - by exploiting the strange properties of relativity. It has no moving parts, and releases no exhaust or noxious emissions. Potentially, it could pack the punch of a rocket in a box the size of a suitcase. It could one day replace the engines on almost any spacecraft. More advanced versions might allow cars to lift from the ground and hover. It could even lead to aircraft that will not need wings at all. I can't help thinking that it sounds too good to be true.
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/mg19125681.400;jsessionid=NMGHKBGMCGMM

Spaceballs: The Cartoon

Mel Brooks is developing an animated TV series based on his comedy feature "Spaceballs."

Like the 1987 movie, which parodied well-known science-fiction movies, "Spaceballs: The Animated Series" will spoof current blockbusters as well as every genre of entertainment from movies and reality TV to culture and politics.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/21/television.brooks.reut/index.html

Arctic Ice Melts Enough To Sail From Norway To The Pole

Doubt global warming? Check this out -- you can now sail unhindered from Norway to the North Pole.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/climatewarmingarctic

Bush Wins World Stupidity Award

U.S. President George Bush is a big winner in this year's World Stupidity Awards, joining the likes of the entire petroleum industry and Vice President Dick Cheney as the recipients of top honours.

Bush was nominated in several categories, including Stupidest Statement of the Year and Most Out of Touch with Reality in the awards roundup which was created to "salute achievement in ignorance and stupidity."
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060920/stupidity_awards_060920/20060920?hub=TopStories

3 Million Year Old Hominid Child Found

The paleontologists who are announcing the discovery in the journal Nature said the 3.3 million-year-old fossils were of the earliest well-preserved child ever found in the human lineage. It was estimated to be about 3 years old at death, probably female and a member of the Australopithecus afarensis species, the same as Lucy?s.

An analysis of the skeleton revealed evidence of a species in transition, the scientists said in interviews today. The lower limbs supported earlier findings that afarensis walked upright, like modern humans. But gorilla-like arms and shoulders suggested that it possibly retained an ancestral ability to climb and swing through the trees.
?The child really confirms that afarensis was walking upright,? said Tim D. White, a paleoanthropologist at the University of California, Berkeley. ?It has the potential to answer old questions and raises some new ones? ? including their behavior in trees.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/20/science/21childcnd.html?hp&ex=1158811200&en=269f73ec99908815&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Climate Change: You've Been Lied To

Exxon and the big tobacco companies have been funding bogus "scientific" debates, reviews, and groups that have set back climate science by a decade. If you don't believe in climate change, maybe it's because you've been lied to?
Seriously, wake up.
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1875762,00.html

African Christians Object To Their Own Evidence

"We are objecting to the message that the fossil exhibits represent the scientific evidence of human evolution," said Bishop Boniface Adoyo, chairman of the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, which claims to represents churches of 35 denominations with 9 million members. "They do not. Human evolution is still a theory and this cannot be called as evidence.?
What they're talking about is the Turkana Boy and a bunch of Leakey's other finds.
The situation has gotten ridiculous. More than ridiculous. Dangerous. Why do we allow this kind of stupendously stupid situation go on in the name of ?tolerance?? Why allow dogma to interfere with the rational investigation of our beginnings? And why is the religious right so afraid of science when instead they should have faith that it would prove them right, unless deep down they have something to fear?
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,71795-0.html?tw=rss.index

Linux Ready For The Desktop... In Australia

Perhaps in North America we need to wake up. I've been running Linux on our family PC for almost a year now with very few problems -- it's definately ready for the desktop.
The user experience is in fact superior -- I had to dual-boot back to XP for a couple of days to get at some data, and Hiyat was less than happy with it -- she said now that she's used to linux it felt cheap.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/linux-wins-over-new-fans/2006/09/04/1157222061911.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Snow Patrol: Eyes Open

A FAB disc. Accessible yet challenging, and "Chasing Cars" pretty much defines Hiyat and I's relationship.
http://www.amazon.com/Eyes-Open-Snow-Patrol/dp/B000F3UADO/sr=8-1/qid=1158166119/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-6091692-0544717?ie=UTF8&s=music

Class-Action Lawsuit Against Microsoft

Looks like there's a class-action lawsuit in Iowa against Microsoft for abusing it's monopoly and anti-competitive actions. Another reason to switch to Linux...
http://www.iowasoftwaresuit.com/